Golden Boot

NYCFC's Taty Castellanos wins 2021 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi

New York City FC star Taty Castellanos has capped his remarkable regular season by winning the 2021 Golden Boot presented by Audi – all by virtue of the assists tiebreaker, which placed him ahead of D.C. United striker Ola Kamara (19g/5a).

After NYCFC drew the Philadelphia Union 1-1 on Decision Day behind Castellanos' headed equalizer, he finished with 19 goals and eight assists. It’s the first time a Cityzens player has taken home the honors since they joined MLS as an expansion team in 2015.

Castellanos scored six goals in NYCFC’s last four games, helping his team secure the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The 23-year-old Argentine striker is competing in his fourth season with the club, smoothing over Heber's long-term absence this year to an ACL injury.

Beyond Castellanos, Kamara (19g/5a), LA Galaxy striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (17g/3a) and Seattle Sounders striker Raul Ruidiaz (17g/1a) were among those also in contention.

Castellanos joins the pantheon of players to win the Golden Boot, which has been awarded since the league's inaugural season in 1996.

From 1996-2004, it was awarded under a points-based system that gave two points for a goal and one for an assist, before switching to outright goals. Check out the full list of Golden Boot winners below.

MLS Golden Boot Winners 1996-2004 (points-based system)
MLS Golden Boot Winners 1996-2004 (points-based system)
Year
Player
Club
Points
1996
Roy Lassiter
Tampa Bay
58
1997
Preki
Kansas City
41
1998
Stern John
Columbus
57
1999
Jason Kreis
Dallas
51
2000
Mamdou Diallo
Tampa Bay
56
2001
Alex Pineda Chacón
Miami
47
2002
Taylor Twellman
New England
52
2003
Preki
Kansas City
41
2004
Amado Guevara, Pat Nooan
MetroStars, New England
30
MLS Golden Boot Winners 2005-2021 (outright goals)
MLS Golden Boot Winners 2005-2021 (outright goals)
Year
Player
Club
Goals
2005
Taylor Twellman
New England
17
2006
Jeff Cunningham
Salt Lake
16
2007
Luciano Emilio
D.C. United
20
2008
Landon Donovan
LA Galaxy
20
2009
Jeff Cunningham
FC Dallas
17
2010
Chris Wondolowski
San Jose
18
2011
Dwayne De Rosario
D.C. United
16
2012
Chris Wondolowski
San Jose
27
2013
Camilo Sanvezzo
Vancouver
22
2014
Bradley Wright-Phillips
New York
27
2015
Sebastian Giovinco
Toronto
22
2016
Bradley Wright-Phillips
New York
24
2017
Nemanja Nikolić
Chicago
24
2018
Josef Martinez
Atlanta
31
2019
Carlos Vela
LAFC
34
2020
Diego Rossi
LAFC
14
2021
Taty Castellanos
NYCFC
19